Mass Effect Realities
by MVBanno
Summary: An Alternate Universe story that sets elements of the Mass Effect universe in our real world. The games still exist, and Earth has not ventured into the stars. But one such game character will find herself exploring Earth directly for the first time
1. Chapter 1

Friday, 10:30pm, The Baxter Residence.

The mini-van stopped halfway up the driveway. The driver, William Baxter, got out of the driver's side of the car. His friend, Jacob, got out of the passenger's side. Jacob looked to the sliding door as William walked over to him. William took a deep breath and opened the door. Inside was someone wearing what looked like a mask and bodysuit. By the looks of the suit, it was a woman. William rubbed his jaw. He nodded to Jacob. They slowly grabbed her arms and legs and lifted her up onto William's shoulder.

Making their way to the front door, the door opened instantly and William's wife, Julia looked at them, worried.

"When you called, I'd hoped it was a joke," she said.

"Sorry to disappoint. Do you have what I asked?" he said. Julia nodded her head. "It's in the guest room."

"Good," William said. He and Jacob made their way to the guest room. Inside the room was a nightgown and some womanly underwear. Jacob quickly grabbed the clothing and held it while William slowly lowered the suited woman to the bed. Julia walked into the room.

"Are the kids asleep?" William asked.

"Yes," Julia replied. She was staring at the masked woman. "You're seriously not going to change her yourself. Are you?" William looked at her. "Would you be willing to?" She nodded her head. William patted her on the back. Then he nudged Jacob and they both left the room. Julia closed the door behind her. She sighed. She walked over to the woman and looked her over.

Jacob and William waited in the living room. William stood up from the couch he had been sitting in and looked to Jacob.

"Want a drink?" he asked.

"Sure," Jacob replied. William walked into the kitchen and grabbed a few soft drinks. He walked back into the living room and handed Jacob one. Taking off the lid, Jacob took a sip.

"What are we going to do about her?" he asked.

"We can't report her to the authorities. Who knows what they'll do to her," William replied.

"So what then?"

"We take it one day at a time. For now we keep her here." the sounds of a door opening and closing. Julia joined them in the living room.

"She's changed. I have her all set up in the bed. I don't know how long she's going to remain knocked out, but she should be alright for the time being," she said. William nodded his head.

"Good."

"Did you get a good look at her?" Jacob asked. Julia nodded her head.

"I did. I don't know what she is or where she comes from, but she looks 90% human to me," she said.

"What about the other 10%?" Jacob asked.

"Well she has 3 fingers, 2 toes, and her skin color is a light shade of violet. And she appears to be a young girl. No more than her late teens, early20's."

"A young girl, you say?" William asked. Julia nodded her head. "And she's a beauty. Her parents will be worried sick." William thought for a second. "Assuming they're not all dead. Everyone else on that ship was dead." Julia looked back to the room. She looked over to William.

"Maybe we'll find out more when she wakes up. In the meantime I suggest Jacob go home, and we all get some sleep," she said. Jacob nodded his head. "Right," he said. He went to the door and opened it. He turned to the others. "Let me know how she's doing," he said. William nodded his head and Jacob left, closing the door behind him.

Saturday, 2:50am.

Eyes darted around the room. The girl looked around frantically, trying to gather any clue as to where she was. She'd already figured out that she was not wearing her suit and the thought scared her. Laying there as still as possible, as if not moving would keep her from getting some sort of germ, she took slow deep breaths. Her thoughts were racing, trying to remember what happened at the ship. She remembered 2 men trying to help her. She remembered a group of some other men trying to attack the 2 men and her fending them off with threats of use from her shotgun. They had left but she must have fallen unconscious again as she didn't remember anything after that point. Slowly sitting up, she felt the nightgown that she was wearing. It felt soft to the touch. She felt the bra that was underneath. She looked into the shirt. She had never seen a piece of clothing like his before. She looked at the door. She pushed the bed coverings off and slowly stood up.

Opening the door to the bedroom, the girl looked out to see if anyone was there. Seeing that the hallway was empty, she stepped out. Slowly closing the door, she looked down the hallway to see which way to go. Walking down the hallway to the right, she reached the kitchen. Licking her lips, she walked in and made her way to the fridge. Opening the door, she took a look at what there was to eat. She couldn't believe the stuff that was in there. Activating her Omni-Tool, she looked at species foods compatible to Quarian digestive systems. Earth came up as compatible. She looked back to the open fridge as her Omni-Tool disappeared. Realizing just how thirsty she was, she grabbed a bottle of liquid. She read the bottle. It said 'Mountain Dew'. she opened the cap and took a huge gulp from the bottle. Almost instantly she choked as some of it went down the wrong tube. Recovering, she looked at the bottle again. She took another gulp from it. She put the lid back on the bottle.

"What do you think?" a voice asked. Startled, the girl dropped the bottle. It hit the floor, but luckily the lid was safely fastened. She looked to where the voice was, and saw Julia standing there, looking curiously at her. The girl slowly backed up into the fridge.

"It's ok. I won't hurt you," Julia said. "You're in my house." the girl looked around the room, then back to Julia. Julia walked over to where the bottle was and picked it up.

"Did you like it?" Julia asked. The girl looked at the bottle, then back towards Julia. She slowly nodded her head.

"My son likes it too. We buy it for him all the time," Julia said. Her eyes glanced from the girl to the fridge.

"You must be hungry."

The girl sat at a table situated in a nearby room. The dining room, she thought. She looked to Julia, whom was still in the kitchen. She was apparently preparing something for her. Julia looked at the girl, a smile on her face. She walked over to the table with a bowl in her hand. She set the bowl in front of the girl and put a fork on the table next to it. The girl looked at the bowl and its contents.

"It's called Beefaroni. A young adult food." The girl picked up the fork and slowly took a bite of the food. She almost spit it out though as it was too hot.

"Oh yeah, should have told you it'd be hot," Julia said, with a sheepish grin.

"Thank you," the girl said. "It's alright."

"So you talk. And you can speak English," Julia said.

"Yes ma'am. Quarians are well-versed in many languages spoken on the planets we've studied." Julia nodded her head, impressed.

"I'm lucky if I can speak one language that isn't English," she said. "What is your name dear?"

"My full name is Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya. But you can call me Tali."

"Alright, Tali. My name is Julia. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said as she held out her hand. Tali looked at the hand, then shook it.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I realize I may have left out a few details on my version of Tali. I am detailing her a bit more in Chapter 2 of this story. Hopefully I will also delve small bit deeper into the Quarian Culture here.

PS: Sorry for short chapters.

Chapter 2

Saturday, 10:50am

Tali looked at herself in the mirror. She was now wearing her suit again but had the helmet off. She felt her violet colored skin. Not since Rannoch had she gone without the helmet for any amount of time. She had had no choice last night as they had taken her suit off while she was unconscious. It was scary, given the environment she was in, but apparently she had gotten through it without so much as a fever. Tali took a deep breath and put her helmet back on.

In the kitchen Julia was per parent breakfast for her family. Tali walked into the kitchen and took a glance around. A little girl was sitting in the dining room looking at her. The little girl looked curious at the appearance of a newcomer. Tali realized that she must look strange to the little girl.

"If you must know, this is what I normally wear," Tali said. The little girl smiled. "You look funny," she said.

"Don't mind her, Tali. That's my daughter Alice," Julia said.

"Hello Alice," Tali said.

"Hello," Alice said back. Julia took a look at Tali from head to toe.

"I see you're wearing your suit again," Julia said.

"Yes. It is customary for me to wear my life-suit when not on Rannoch," Tali said.

"Why?" Julia asked.

"When on Rannoch, we're fine. But when we travel, we must wear these as our immune systems are not strong enough as with other species. We can survive, but different kinds of germs effect us in different ways. We try to avoid that," Tali explained. Julia nodded her head. "I see," she said. She went back to what she was doing. Tali took another look around the room. She was here just last night but mostly in the dark. So she never got a good look at what was there.

"Tali, breakfast is ready. If you want to eat something, go ahead and sit down. You may want to remove the helmet though," Julia said. Tali nodded her head. She went into the dining room and sat down in a chair. She slowly removed her helmet and put it on the seat next to her. Alice was still staring at her. But now she had more curious eyes. Julia noticed this. "Alice we don't stare," she said.

"But mommy the girl has purple skin," Alice commented.

"Yes, and if you didn't notice, she has 3 fingers and 2 toes. We still don't stare at the young lady," Julia said.

"Ok mommy. Sorry," Alice said. Julia brought over 2 plates. She placed one in front of Tali and the other in front of Alice.

"They're called Pancakes. You eat them with a knife and fork," she said. Tali looked at the silverware in front of her and picked them up. She turned and watch Alice begin to eat her Pancakes. Then she imitated the gesture. Julia sat down and smiled.

"If you're really from…another world, how can you eat our food?" she asked.

"Quarians have complicated DNA. But our DNA allows us to eat 3 kinds of food. Human food, Turian food, and Quarian food," Tali replied.

"That's not possible," a voice said from the kitchen. Tali turned to see a young man standing there, a plate of Pancakes in his hands. "Quarians have Dextro-DNA. It doesn't allow for such leeway."

"And you would know this how?" asked Julia.

"Mom, there's a whole website dedicated to the Mass Effect games and the characters and species inside it. It says so about the Quarians," he replied. Julia and Alice both turned to Tali. Tali was too busy looking at the boy with a curiousness. The boy looked at her. Within seconds, he was walking towards her and looking at her with interest. He put his plate on the table and got in for a closer look.

"Ethan be nice to our guest," Julia said. Ethan wasn't listening. He gently grabbed Tali's arm and lifted it so he could see her hand. He placed his own hand on hers. Tali didn't seem to mind.

"How is this possible?" he asked. He looked at her face.

"May I?" he asked. Tali nodded her head. He gently felt up her cheek.

"That is not make up or face paint," Ethan said. Tali's hair was short and pulled back behind her head so Ethan could get a good look at her Quarian ears, which looked human but integrated more into her head than that of a human ear. Gently forcing her to stand up, Ethan stood back a little to examine her legs. Bow-legged.

"Just like the video game counter part. How do you even exist?" he asked.

"Am I not supposed to?" asked Tali in response. Ethan shrugged.

"And I bet you even have an Omni-Tool," he said. Tali held out her left arm and flashed into existence her Omni-Tool. Ethan could only stare.

"Wow," he said. Ethan had to take a deep breath. "What is your name?" Julia and Alice had to glance at each other.

"My name is Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya." Ethan's jaw dropped. "You can call me Tali." Ethan had a wide eyed look on his face.

"A real life Quarian…and her name is Tali?" Tali nodded her head.

"May I ask…what is Mass Effect?" she asked.

"You're in for a world of Awesome," Ethan replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Saturday, 10:56 AM

Ethan walked into his room by room followed by Tali. Tali took a look around to see what the room had to offer. She had never been in a bedroom like this before last night when she woke up in the guest room. Ethan sat down at his computer desk and turned on the computer. He turned to Tali and smiled.

"Takes my computer a while to turn on, but soon we will be up and running on the Internet," he said. Tali turned to him and nodded her head.

"We have a kind of Internet as well in our world. Only it runs a lot smoother than this," she said. Ethan chuckled and turned to look at his computer. "Sure you do," he said to himself. As the desktop appeared on the computer, Ethan flicked a few buttons on his mouse and booted up the Internet. Tali could not help but notice that the wallpaper on the desktop looked like a picture of herself with the title of Mass Effect on the upper left side.

"Excuse me, but did I just see a picture of a Quarian on your main computer screen?" She asked. Ethan minimized the Internet screen so that Tali could get a good view of his desktop wallpaper.

"You have good eyes. This is you. Or should I say, this is the video game version of you. You're a very popular character," Ethan said. Tali had to get in closer for a better look.

"I am amazed by the similarities that this version of me seems to have. If I did not know any better I would have assumed they had taken some sort of photograph of me as a basis. Forgive me if I am a bit creeped out by this," Tali said. Ethan shrugged.

"To be honest, I'm really not surprised by that statement. This must be a bit weird for you," Ethan said.

"you have no idea," Tali said. "this videogame, Mass Effect, just what else does it have?" Ethan took a deep breath and turned to the computer. Bringing back up the Internet, he typed up an Internet address and pressed enter. A whole website dedicated to the videogame Mass Effect was displayed.

Ethan got up from his computer chair and motioned for Tali to sit down. Tali, taking the hint, took her place on the computer chair.

"This is going to teach me about this video game of yours?" Tali asked. Ethan simply nodded his head. Tali took a look at the Internet webpage. One of the few things that caught her interest was a link that said 'Races of Mass Effect'. Ethan could not help but glance between Tali and the computer screen. Since Tali was wearing her mask, it was difficult for Ethan to gauge her reaction to what she was looking at on the screen. Tali had clicked on the link and was now viewing a list of clickable links dedicated to different races such as Asari, Turians, Salarians, and Quarians. Ethan knew it immediately which race she would click on. As if on cue, Tali clicked on the Quarians link. Minutes passed by as Tali read the information that the website had on Quarians. From time to time, she would nod her head as if acknowledging the information that the website was giving her. She stopped when it said something about Young adult Quarians going on their pilgrimage.

Tali turned around to face Ethan.

"This website is very knowledgeable about the Quarian race. Here are just a few inconsistencies compared to the real life Quarians. First of all, the Geth do exist. However we are not at war with them. We have in fact been living together in harmony for the last few hundred years. The Quarian people are happily at home on the planet Rannoch. That said, we do send our young on pilgrimage. As stated in this website, it is a rite of passage that most but not all go on. Second, as I have already talked to your mother, Quarians do in fact have a complicated DNA system that limits our food intake and what we can and cannot eat in regards to different races and food types. We are in fact allowed to eat human food, Turian food, and our own cuisine. And again, as I have stated to your mother, when on our home world, we can walk around without our suits. However when we travel, we wear the suits 90% of the time so that we can avoid infections and possible fevers. Your website makes it sound as if the slightest suit tear could kill us. That is simply not true, and kind of unfair to the Quarian people," Tali explained. Ethan could only nod his head. He went and sat down on his bed.

"Tali, you say that Quarians send their young adults on pilgrimage. I assume that the whole naming of Nar and Vas plus ship name is real?" Ethan asked.

"Of course it's real. I said that most Quarians are on Rannoch. But we still have a flotilla that allows us to explore different worlds and traveled through space as a colony," Tali replied.

"Then does that mean that you were on your pilgrimage when you happen to crash land on Earth?" Ethan asked. Tali could only nod her head.

"Yes. I was on my pilgrimage with a few of my friends. That is also one of the differing factors you got wrong about Quarian lifestyles. A pilgrimage can be a solo or a group outing between Quarians of the same age. But seeing as I'm the only one your father and his friend was able to drag out, I'm going to assume that my friends did not make it," Tali replied. She lowered her head, and Ethan could almost feel as if she was a bit depressed at that realization.

Tali stood up from the computer chair. She took off her helmet and flipped it around so that she could look at the visor.

"I was supposed to be the leader of the bunch. My father is the head of the Admiralty Board. So you can imagine that there must have been a lot of expectations for me as a Quarian. We left the Rayya two weeks ago. We weren't sure where we were going to go, considering we were limited in our food consumption. Sure, we have a lot of our own cuisine that we had brought with us. But then once we ran out, we would have to fend for ourselves and figure out the place to go where we would have compatible food to eat. Then, one of my friends suggested that we visit Earth because of all the stories we have heard of past explorations of Earth's orbit. She has suggested that we be the first to actually land on Earth. Of course I dared not have been the one to tell her that my father had landed on Earth before. In the long run, we had decided on our destination so that was it. However, as we approached your planet there was complications on the ship. We had lost control and our engines had completely failed us. We tried to land it as best as possible, but as you can have figured out, our best was not good enough. So here I am with you kind people fulfilling my pilgrimage. However I feel I do not have a way to get back home," Tali said.

"can't you try to send a message?" Ethan asked. Tali had to think about it for a moment. Then she nodded her head.

"Yes. As long as the ship has power still, we should be able to send a message back to the flotilla about what has happened to our ship. I just hope that the ship is in working condition after the crash," Tali said.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter in. I kind of fell out of the loop and unfortunately the whole Extended ending thing kinda changed the mood of my story, even though I've decided to keep it the way it was intended. I'm still deciding where I want to go with this. One idea is to have Tali and Ethan kidnapped and then brought a bit into the ME universe where Tali discovers that her digestive methods truly are different than she was made to believe. Yes this changes the biology of the Quarians a bit but bear in mind this isn't meant to be a true straight up adaptation of the ME mythos. I will write a full fledged Mass Effect story with Quarians and other species exactly as depicted in the games….if you have ideas of what you'd like to see in THIS universe however, do say so in the comments. I will see them and take your ideas into consideration.

Chapter 4

Ethan and Tali would have gone to the clearing where the ship had landed themselves, but then they realized that Tali would not have remembered where it was. She had been unconscious the entire time that they had brought her back to the house the night before. In order for them to get there, they would need Ethan's father to take them there. Unfortunately for them, William was working at the moment. This gave decent enough time to allow Tali to get more acquainted to the videogames that were somewhat inspired by real people and races apparently. Ethan had found Tali a play list of a walk-through for the third Mass Effect. Though Tali did not understand the story leading up to it, Ethan did his best to bring her up to speed.

"To be honest, you would probably have to spend your days here playing both videogames to get the full effect. But since we're trying to get you home, I doubt you're going to have the time. So I hope that helps," Ethan said.

"I guess it's going to have to do. Let's get this started," Tali said. So Ethan got up from his computer desk and allowed Tali to sit back down on the chair. Taking the mouse, Tali clicked on the play button.

"Enjoy," Ethan said. If Tali had had her mask off, Ethan would have seen her smiling with anticipation.

Ethan walked into the kitchen and made its way to the fridge. He opened the door and got out the Mountain Dew. Grabbing 2 cups from a cupboard, he poured the drink into both cups. He then went into one of the drawers and grabbed a straw.

"What are you doing?" Julia asked. She was sitting down at the table in the dining room reading a newspaper. Ethan turned to look at her.

"I'm getting me and Tali some drinks," he replied.

"And just what is Tali doing?" Julia asked.

"She's watching a video play through of Mass Effect 3," Ethan replied. Julia merely stared at him.

"Ethan. I saw the way you were staring at her earlier today. And the way you are treating her. She is not some object to be desired simply because she looks like something that comes out of one of your video games. She is a young lady and she deserves your respect as a person. Now promise me you are going to be good to her," Julia said. Ethan could only stare at his mother's eyes for a moment before he grabbed the 2 cups.

"Mom, you saw her without her helmet. She is beautiful. She's different than most of the girls I have seen in school. Of course I am going to be good to her. Besides, it's not like she is going to be here much longer. Once her people know about what happened, they are no doubt going to be looking for her. I doubt I will have much time to spend with her then," Ethan said.

"I can understand that she is different than the girls you meet here on Earth. After all she does come from another world. I just hope you're not gonna make a mistake and hurt her," Julia said. "After all you've only just met her today." Ethan nodded his head. He then walked out of the kitchen and back to the room.

As Ethan entered the room, Tali was still watching the videos. Ethan could only stare at her. She was so invested in watching those videos that she had obviously not heard him entering. For when he tapped her on the shoulder, she jumped and made a small gasping sound.

"Oh, it's only you," she said. She took a deep breath and returned her attention to the videos. Ethan gave her the cup with the straw. She took the cup and slowly inserted the straw into her visor so that she could slowly slurp up the drink.

"Your video playing devices are quite interesting. I had no idea videos on Earth were so imaginative," Tali said.

"Yeah we have some interesting devices," Ethan commented. He watched the video with her.

The moment finally came when the ending came and went. Ethan looked over to Tali.

"Well?" he asked. Tali looked over to Ethan and sighed.

"All that and this is what we're left with? Forgive me but I cannot help but feel under whelmed. All that they fought for and this is what they get? An ending like this where I come from is unthinkable. We would have hoped for so much more," she replied.

"Yeah that's what a lot of people thought," Ethan said. "So trust me when I say you're not the only one who thought this."

"It's like they didn't even bother to take into consideration all alternatives. Did Shepard not think explain all that was possible? The ability to reason with the Geth for instance. We were able to end the war with the Geth and that didn't have any impact on the ending. It's like nothing they did actually had any impact. They weren't able to explain anything to the AI child. And of course that's not taking into account that the real Geth never revolted in the first place. But that's a totally other story," Tali said.

"Do the reapers actually exist?" Ethan asked.

"Of course they do. But they're not what you think. They're not a race of AI ships. They're an insectoid race with those ships designed like they are in the game. But they keep to themselves. We've only had contact with them every 50,000 years when they look to explore and see how the universe has changed. they chronicle the different species that have appeared in the galaxy," Tali explained.

"So they're more like the collectors then?" Ethan asked.

"Yes and no. Yes because they sort of look like the collectors…and no because the collectors in your game were scavengers and mercenaries it seems. The Reapers are not," Tali replied.


	5. A Note from the Author

A Note from the Author:

Forgive the lack of updates. I feel I must explain myself. I know this is not the 'update' you were hoping for, as you probably wanted a continuation of the story. But fact of the matter is my writing is not like it used to be. Before I was more than into writing. But now I've kind of entered into a kind of writer's block and it's been difficult to get out of.

There's also the fact that this Mass Effect story has really truly been a As I Write kind of story with no clear path to go in. Some have been kind enough to point out the flaws in the story and I can clearly see its cuase they care for the characters I'm writing about…at least the Quarian in question. Fact is I'm stupid and I know what I'm doing is going against canon.

So I've been contemplating writing an actual straight up Mass Effect story. Nothing in canon with the games, it'd be my own 'universe' using the characters in new stories. So I write this to ask you…would you rather I continue 'Mass Effect Realities'…or move on to a brand new True to Form MASS EFFECT story? Let me know in the comments.

Mike Banno.


End file.
